KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — East Tennessee’s own Dolly Parton has received the 2024 PEACE Through Music Award from the U.S. Department of State and Recording Academy.
The award honors American musicians whose work advances peace and understanding across the globe. The award was introduced in 2023 and Music icon Quincy Jones was the inaugural recipient. The Department of State shared that Parton embodies understanding, peace, inclusion, and unity, adding that her “commitment to serving others is unparalleled.”
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“Parton’s Imagination Library , which provides underserved children the opportunity to learn through reading, stretches from the hills of Appalachia to the outback of Australia. She has been a champion of public health, most recently around the COVID-19 vaccine, which not only reached millions of Americans, but also people worldwide,” wrote the Department of State.
The award winner is chosen through a nomination process. U.S. embassies submitted nominations, then a selection committee created by the State Department and Recording Academy® considered each nominee. The honorees are then approved by the CEO of the Recording Academy and presented to the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, who makes the final decision.